The Australian Seven Network, owned by Kerry Stokes, has increased its stake in The West Australian Newspaper to 22.3%, with a buy up of 4 million shares today.
The buy up follows a failed attempt to divide the present WAN board and win Stokes a seat in April. The implications of the move on the media barren west coast seem clear enough for anyone interested in media diversity.
Also clear is the way it brings into sharp focus the cross media ownership restrictions that the Howard government was able to abolish that made Stokes' expansion possible. We need the Rudd Government to finally take the chronic state of Australian media seriously. But it seems for now, it suits their purpose of quietening dissent...
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